Author Archive
DUCKS ABOUND
It’s late (is it, though?). You’re up. I’m dipping pretzel chips in my margaritas. Go us. #leggo
Best part: I passed the swim test! And these guys were spotted on South Lawn!
Raphael Pope-Sussman / Spec
CU profs are making bank!
We already knew PrezBo was raking it in, but according to HuffPo, Columbia’s professors are on average the second highest paid in the country, making an average annual salary of $191,400. Not exactly sure what it’s counting as profs, but with that figure, I’ll wager it’s only tenured faculty. Though you’d think making that much money, they’d maybe be able to manage getting my midterm back to me by now. [Huffington Post]
Today’s paper: Assessing conflict of interest, fencing gold, and a wasteland of apathy
It’s still gloomy out, it will probably rain today while the wind laughs mockingly at your umbrella before mutilating it beyond recognition, but there’s a fair on Low Plaza to make up for it!
“Inside Job,” a documentary about the global economic crisis of 2008 which highly criticizes individuals such as B-School Dean R. Glenn Hubbard and B-School prof Frederic Mishkin, is being screened for the University Senate in order to reassess the University’s conflict of interest policy. [News]
A frosh fencer won gold in Jordan and looks toward the 2012 Olympics. [Sports]
Why Columbia is a “wasteland of apathy” and the council candidates aren’t focusing on the right things. [Opinion]
Today in free food: Dining is giving away free “snacks and drinks” at their annual Food Expo today from 10 to 2! Barnard’s Spirit Day will bring free BBQ and ice cream to Lehman Lawn.
Floor plans after day four
For all you freshpeople who have yet to pick into your double somewhere, we have the floorplans for you as of Friday afternoon. We’ve only posted those that have been picked into already, so start planning for your next year of cramped living at CU! For what happened up until Friday and our best guess of what will happen this week in room selection, check out Housing smartiepants Eric Feder’s recap.
McBain
2nd Floor
3rd Floor
4th Floor
5th Floor
6th Floor
7th Floor
8th Floor
Schapiro, Nussbaum, and Broadway after the jump. More »
The final countdown: Day four recap, Monday preview
Day four brought what was, without question, the biggest story of this year’s suite selection—the ECXs were the (not so) little suites that could and managed to outlast all of Hogan, Ruggles, Claremont, Woodbridge, Watt, and the 113th Street brownstone. The suites seemed destined to stay on the board forever: Not only were there relatively few groups of five signed up, but even those groups that were of the right size were not exactly chomping at the bit. One of the groups showed up almost a half hour late for its appointment and another group had to be convinced by a housing official that an ECX was, in fact, a better option than Watt. The final ECX was taken by a group of five sophomores with a lottery number of 308, one of the more shocking outcomes in suite selection history. Predictions for the rest of the week after the jump! More »
Day three recap, day four preview
The third day of suite selection brought an influx of mixed-point groups and juniors looking to grab what the seniors had left over. As expected, pairs finished off the brownstone, the two remaining Watt one-bedrooms, and Woodbridge, the last of which was taken by group 1080. It’s interesting to note that despite the huge increase in seniors who formed groups of two, the Woodbridge cutoff was mostly unaffected. They also began to choose the Watt studio doubles, a few of the walk-through doubles in Nussbaum, and the lone walk-through double in River.
Outside of these doubles, the groups ravaged Ruggles, leaving just a single 6-person suite on the first floor. All fourteen of the 8-person suites were taken with a final cutoff at 20/1402. It’s remarkable how these suites continue to get more and more difficult to get into—expect this trend to continue next year. The rest of the major action surrounded the former EC exclusion suites, which were taken throughout the day by groups who were simply grateful that they were still around.
So what’s on tap for tomorrow? Predictions (and an explanation of that whole BC housing cap thing) after the jump. More »
Day two recap, day three preview
We figured that Day two was going to be quite a doozy and it certainly lived up to the hype.
Leading up to senior regroup, the main storyline of the day was the six-person townhouses. They had stuck around far longer than ever before and ended up lasting until the very last group of six, all the way at 30/2905. Meanwhile, the seniors continued to eat away at Woodbridge, Watt, and the former-ECX suites and also finished off the four-person suites in Claremont, all of Hogan, and the remaining RA suites. More recap and predictions for tomorrow after the jump! More »
Floor plans after day two
They’re here, we’ve got them for you: What the floor plans look like after day two! We’ve only included the ones that were picked into today. As always, questions and comments welcomed!
Nussbaum: Pretty much wide open here, with a couple scattered rooms taken out today.
Third Floor
Fourth Floor
Fifth Floor
Ninth Floor
Tenth Floor
Hogan: Not a room left!
Second Floor
Third Floor
Fourth Floor
Fifth Floor
Sixth Floor
Seventh Floor
Woodbridge, Watt, Ruggles, EC, Harmony, Claremont, and 113 Street Brownstone after the jump! More »
LIVEBLOG DAY 2: Watch the seniors scramble
Good morning fellow lions! We’re here in John Jay lounge already grooving to what sounds like some early morning AM radio, snacking on our Airheads watching the latter half of the seniors meander about with scared whispers of “senior regroup” in the air. Should be an interesting day! And we’ll be here for the whole thing. Check out the liveblog after the jump! More »
Wake-Up Call: And it begins!
It’s here folks, the beginning of suite selection—there will be celebration, there will be tears, but most importantly, there will be Airheads. We know, it’s daunting, but don’t fret! We’re trying to make this as simple as possible, because we know Housing sure as hell won’t.
We’ve already reviewed all Columbia dorms for you—113 Street Brownstone, 47 Claremont, Broadway, EC, Furnald, Harmony, Hogan, McBain, Nussbaum, River, Ruggles, Schapiro, Watt, Wien, and Woodbridge (and Barnard’s 600s and CG). We’ve let you know where you’ll likely end up, breaking it down dorm-by-dorm, by lottery number, and even with a calculator for General Selection. We’ve explained the consequences of the death of EC exclusion suites, open housing, and RAs and riders. You can see our coverage on housing improvements, some general advice, and, if worst comes to worst, the sophomore waitlist. So relax, we’ve got you covered.
And in case you’re more of a paper-in-hand sort of person, make sure to pick up a hard copy of today’s Spec for the Shaft’s two-page Housing Guide (or view it here) to get a more visual sense of what’s going on in the housing world (including Barnard dorms!).
As far as what’s likely to go down today, we expect the two-bedroom apartments in Watt to be scooped up before lunch, along with most, if not all, of the four-person suites in Hogan and EC. The four-person suites in Ruggles will likely go shortly after lunch, along with the rest of Hogan. Then go the EC all-single five-person suites, shortly followed by the six-person all-single suites/townhouses in EC. There is a slim possibility some of the high-demand lines in Woodbridge (C, H, K) will be left for tomorrow, but we’re not betting on it. In any case, we’ll be there for the whole ride. Look out for our liveblog and whiteboard stuck to the top of the blog all week, and leave any lingering questions in the comments.